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Pliny's Natural History, the first encyclopedia. Featuring chapters like "Other wonderful things related to dolphins" and one mentioning the lynx and the sphinx in a single passage. Obviously he got a lot very wrong, but it launched a tradition of authoritative encyclopedias. More recently, you hopefully know that the forty-four million word eleventh (1911) edition of Encyclopedia Britannica is online, later volumes are not, but you can still find elsewhere Trotsky's article on Lenin, Freud's on psychoanalysis, Houdini on conjuring, or Lawrence of Arabia on guerillas. Britannica also offers a series of articles from its archives showing how views on Mars or the debate in 1768 over whether California was an island. Other fascinating encyclopedias online include the 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia and the 1908 Catholic Encyclopedia, and the Encyclopedia Mythica.
comment posted at 4:30 AM on Jul-7-05

CARtoons was MAD Magazine for the hot-rod enthusiast, a bimonthly magazine-format comic book which I used to read regularly until it quietly disappeared from the newsracks in 1991 after a 30-year run. Reminded of the magazine earlier I was thrilled to find the website of George Trosley, the long-term CARtoons artist behind Krass and Bernie and the magazine's excellent how-to-draw articles whose results decorated my binders through high school. Those who remember the mag might enjoy the CARtoons archive he hosts, with scans of features and covers and writeups about the mag and its artists, many of whom passed away too soon. Still need a wild hot-rod fix? Ed "Big Daddy" Roth passed away in 2001, but Rat Fink lives on.
comment posted at 7:38 AM on Dec-16-04

Scientific American on Microsoft's new, gigantic attempt at a Palo Alto.
comment posted at 7:38 AM on Jun-10-04

Red and green dots have never been so interesting. At least to a geek like me. I love it when my brain plays tricks on me.
comment posted at 9:55 AM on May-22-04

The Song Is You: and, as if that weren't enough, the melody lingers on! The Songwriters' Hall of Fame is a magnificent resource (look for the almost-complete song lists) and a reminder of how one single country (The U.S.A.) produced a hugely disproportionate quantity of the great popular songwriters. It could arguably be said: almost all of them. How many of the "Rock Era" composers, though, have written standards that will still be as widely sung worldwide, in every conceivable dive or circumstance, in 50 years' time as the songs of Arlen, Porter, Gershwin, Berlin, Kern, Rodgers, Carmichael, Youmans, Warren, Ellington, Loesser, Loewe, Coleman and so many others still are today?
comment posted at 8:20 AM on Mar-29-04

Being Charlie Kaufman : Screenplays, Articles written for National Lampoon, Unproduced TV Scripts, and Discussions of his Films.
comment posted at 5:17 PM on Apr-4-04

The UK's Channel 4 is to court controversy with a provocative advert littered with swear words in which the word "c**t" is heard nine times in the space of just 90 seconds. Watch it here (NSFW with speakers on!)
comment posted at 5:08 AM on Mar-12-04

Imagurl - virtual feminization
comment posted at 7:49 AM on Mar-6-04

Metababy Returns - "Metababy is an experiment in collaboration, a Web site created by its visitors. You're welcome to post anything you want on Metababy, and anybody else is free to change it. "
Content subject to change at any moment, so NSFW.
comment posted at 3:46 AM on Nov-17-03
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comment posted at 5:22 AM on Nov-18-03

The Druze community reside in Israel, Lebanon and Syria who've been rather overlooked as the middle-east situation complexifies. Discover (scroll halfway down) an ancient culture and it's faith that have had to adapt to an increasingly unstable climate.

They share some similarities to the Iraqi Yezidi of this thread.
comment posted at 9:18 AM on Oct-18-03

Metafilter: Fair & Balanced[tm] - reclaim free speech tomorrow! This Friday, August 15, is Fair And Balanced day on the Internet... according to Neal Pollack, Atrios and others. Development to this thread
comment posted at 8:41 PM on Aug-14-03

Support out troops? The Pentagon wants to cut the pay of its 148,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, who are already contending with guerrilla-style attacks, homesickness and 120- degree-plus heat.
comment posted at 8:50 PM on Aug-14-03

Yet another reason for me to be ashamed at times to identify with other "Christians." Apparently some Bible study website has purchased the domain blogpsot.com so that people misspelling the address of any blogspot blog will go to the site. That's just great. These people have stooped to the level of pornographers. Check it out for yourself, using these URL's of some blogspot blogs.

http://grandparoland.blogpsot.com
http://shleepybex.blogpsot.com
http://unit64.blogpsot.com
comment posted at 8:00 AM on Apr-5-03

Remind me never to cohabit heterosexually, "openly and notoriously," in North Dakota.
comment posted at 4:23 AM on Apr-4-03
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comment posted at 4:43 AM on Apr-4-03

Tired of WarBlogs? (NSFW) Most blogs are people whining about their life, computers or the war. Not sexblogs. I'm not involved with this site, but I noticed them when they linked to me.
comment posted at 12:41 PM on Apr-1-03

...implants a device in his body that delivers agonizing pain at the push of a button, and over the course of many days attempts to wear him down through a disturbingly simple process of psychological warfare. He is seated in a chair with four bright lights shining in his face, and the captor attempts through painful coercion to make him say that there are, in fact, five lights. Every time he refuses to say there are five lights, he is drilled with pain. In essence, he is expected to deny the reality described by his own eyes, and surrender the will of his mind to the definition of reality offered by his captor. Four Lights, a thesis [2]
comment posted at 5:37 PM on Mar-31-03

Be a one heart- It is a time to celebrate and not allow yourself to get sucked into fear. "A lot is up in the world today the War in Iraq changes everywhere on the planet. Now we have the 911 attack and the male ego is out in full force. Kill the evil-doers is the chant and the march to war is upon us. No doubt there is much happening in all parts of the world in this transition period, but in the end what is important is how we as individuals and as a collective conscience react or proact to these changes. As individuals, as nations, as humanity we will set the tone for what kind of a world we will begin the next epoch with. What humanity does now will flavor the world in which we live for a very long time. My life will be spent proacting the ways of peace and stability, what will you spend your life doing? " "Message from the Hopi - People of Peace August 2002 You have been telling people that this is the Eleventh Hour, now you must go back and tell them that this is the Hour. And there are things to be considered: Where are you living? What are you doing? What are your relationships? Are you in right relation? Where is your water? Know your garden. It is time to speak your Truth. Create your community. Be good to each other. And do not look outside yourself for the leader. This could be a good time! There is a river flowing now very fast. It is so great and so swift that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold onto the shore. They will feel they are being torn apart, and they will suffer greatly. Know the river has its destination. The Elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open and our heads above water. See who is in there with you and celebrate. At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally, least of all, ourselves. For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey, comes to a halt. The time of the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves! Banish the word 'struggle' from your attitude and your vocabulary. All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration. We are the ones we have been waiting for. The Elders Oraibi, Arizona Hopi Nation " TOP
comment posted at 6:16 PM on Mar-29-03

"A format designed for Unabombers." Andrew Sullivan blasts Weblogs (odd, ain't it?) in a conversation with Kurt Anderson at Slate. Both Sullivan and Anderson rip on our own Rebecca Blood. I find it especially ironic that Sullivan refers to blogs' "supercilious tone." He also can't stand the idea that drives Metafilter, apparently: "Worse, [Blood] can write earnestly about a Weblog 'community.' Aaagghh. " *more inside*
comment posted at 8:33 AM on Sep-4-02

Let's make today Link KPMG Day. Why? Because apparently they think that people need their permission to link to them [via plasticbag.org]. This sort of nonsense is completely antithetical to the spirit of the web.
comment posted at 7:32 AM on Dec-5-01

The Deconstruction of The World Trade Center An analysis of the Right versus the Left in ways that 911 and other events are interpreted and understood. Take your choice.
comment posted at 1:09 PM on Nov-26-01

Were you ever a member of AVS, the Adult Verification System? If so, the Feds have you on a list of potential pedophiles. I remember AVS from the mid-1990s; they were one of the easiest ways to generate revenue from an adult Web site, using the same business model as AdultCheck does today. A very few of the hundreds of sites AVS "fronted" for contained child porn, and the owners of the service are now in federal prison as a result. Even though they knew differently, federal authorities claimed that they had "dismantled the largest-known commercial child pornography enterprise ever uncovered," and for the past two years have been sending offers of child porn to some of 30,000 people on the AVS membership list, the vast majority of which have no interest in child porn.
comment posted at 10:38 AM on Nov-15-01

Scalia's Constitution is dead. So, do rulings from the Warren Court deserve deference? Are colonial practices our standard for cruel and unusual punishment? Does the right to bear arms stop at muskets, or does it include nuclear arms?
comment posted at 7:23 AM on Nov-15-01

The Taliban withdrawal is a strategic move, not a sign of retreat. By strategically handing over key Afghan cities to the Northern Alliance before melting into the mountainsides, the Taliban tossed political hand grenades at the United States. On the surface, it appears the Taliban were dealt a crushing defeat. Thousands of Taliban fighters switched sides or were captured during the Northern Alliance’s advance, and the remainder melted into the hills having put up almost no fight. However, the Taliban withdrawal was far from a rout. Rather, it reflects abandonment of a strategy that could have led to their destruction, in preparation for a more traditional and effective strategy for combat in Afghanistan — guerrilla warfare.
comment posted at 7:27 AM on Nov-15-01

U2 sells out (again?). I just got this email, which calls for a boycott of Best Buy because of an exclusive distribution deal with U2. Apparently, their upcoming concert DVD will be available at Best Buy two weeks before we can buy it anywhere else. Personally, I hoping for another interview with the Edge in which he claims to know nothing about this. I've always been a fan, but it is difficult to decide if these guys are genuine humanitarians or corporate pawns. In this day in age, I'm sure you can be both and get away with it.
comment posted at 5:32 AM on Nov-14-01

[pseudo-]Random content generators - very interesting stuff. I'd love to see human beings act on this content as a sort of selector of aesthetics a la Richard Dawkins. Be sure to check out the randomly generated comics.
comment posted at 7:11 AM on Nov-13-01

Mythkus. And poetry. Interesting in that... scary... way.
comment posted at 2:22 PM on Nov-6-01

Monday is the last day to declare your intention to write a 50,000-word novel during National Novel Writing Month (Nov. 1-30). "Dubious fiction writers from all nations are invited to participate," says organizer Chris Baty. So far, around 3,000 writers have pledged to bring 150 million new words into the world.
comment posted at 2:24 PM on Nov-1-01
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comment posted at 7:46 AM on Nov-15-01

DMCA: It's not just for software pirates and movie traders anymore. [salon link, sorry] Don't like what a web site is saying about your company and its investors? Cry copyright wolf and the site goes down, no questions asked.
comment posted at 6:14 AM on Sep-4-01

The Olive Garden just says no to H2O! Water: it's necessary to sustain life, but it contributes to a dull dining experience.
comment posted at 5:28 AM on Nov-14-01

[Inneresting Scientific American article about Hypnosis] including video of a real-live scientific hypnosis session. Have you ever been hypnotized? Has your sister? If not, would you like to be? If so, was it cool? Did it help you control your insatiable craving for prawns?
comment posted at 9:16 AM on Jun-27-01
comment posted at 10:13 AM on Jun-27-01

[The Extropian vision] Reason magazine reports from Extro-5. Visionaries or crackpots? Just how fast are things going to get strange?
comment posted at 10:35 AM on Jun-26-01
comment posted at 11:45 AM on Jun-26-01

CSS behavior tag and HTML Component files are some of the new bits that Microsoft has proposed to the standards boards and which are already implemented in recent versions of IE. Of course, I only discovered them by poking around in microsoft.com's source. What do you think of these tools? It looks like it will make Web apps more powerful and application like.
comment posted at 7:56 AM on Jun-26-01

Unisys Confesses UNIVAC Sins - The company that invented the first commercial computer apologized on the eve of its 50th anniversary for any "unintended consequences" of its use. - Among other things, they apologized for bad joke emails, the dot com bubble, and destroying the concept of normal working hours. It's a pretty funny article.
comment posted at 8:15 AM on Jun-13-01

Remind me never to cruise for hookers in St. Paul. How's this for a deterrent? Updated weekly.
comment posted at 8:30 AM on Jun-13-01

Steve Jackson Games , the makers of such fine pen-and-paper RPGs as Gurps, has been running a blog since 1994. I've been reading it since 1996, and I just now realized: it was the first blog I've ever read. In addition to release information, they also post game industry news, personal stories, and even the Illuminated Site of the Week, all with intimacy and personality we've come to expect from blogs.
comment posted at 2:02 PM on May-22-01
comment posted at 8:34 AM on Jun-13-01